An 18-year-old man is accused of a robbing a woman at gunpoint before counting the stolen money outside a Chicago police station on the West Side. Jermaine Howard, of the 4800 block of West Adams Street, was charged with armed robbery with a firearm, a felony, police said. The man allegedly robbed the woman at the Kedzie Avenue CTA Pink Line station near 19th Street and Kedzie Avenue about 10:30 a.m. Wednesday as he was getting off a train. The robber fell down the stairs as he was being chased by the woman, who had also been on the train.
A witness, Munchie Wade, said he was waiting for a bus outside the station when he heard footsteps on the stairs and saw the robber fall. "She (the woman) was saying, 'Help! Help! I'm getting robbed!,' " said Wade, 18. The woman and the robber struggled for the purse and he pulled out a .22-caliber revolver, police said. The woman pleaded for her purse back, so the robber just took her wallet, police said.
Wade called 9-1-1 on his cell phone but said he also followed the robber on foot and noticed when the suspect stopped in front of the Ogden District station at 3315 W. Ogden Ave. Wade said he walked into the police station and told a female officer about the robbery and that the robber was in front of the station. The officer, Wade said, then referred him to an officer sitting in a police SUV in front of the station. Wade said he opened the door to the SUV and told the officer about the robbery. "He's right here. He's counting the money," Wade recalled telling the officer as the robber walked in front of the police station.
Wade said the officer got out of the SUV and the robber tried to run away by crossing the street. But the officer caught up to the robber on foot about 10:45 a.m. and subdued him with a Taser, Wade and police said. The money was recovered and the gun seized, police said. The woman was not hurt. "I was trying to do the right thing and help the young lady out," said Wade, who missed his bus.
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